By Charles Rabin, The Miami Herald
MIAMI — Two gunmen sprayed a Miami apartment complex with dozens of rounds of gunfire from automatic weapons early Tuesday morning, killing two people and seriously injuring seven others, in one of the worst mass shootings in Miami in decades.
Kevin Richardson, 30, was killed, his family said. The other victim, according to media reports, was Nakiel Jackson, 26. A 17-year-old girl is in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and the names of the other victims at the same hospital were still unknown late into the morning.
Though details remained sketchy, police believe two men pulled up to an apartment complex in the Liberty City neighborhood, got out of a dark SUV with two high-powered weapons, fired into a crowd of dozens milling about outside, then fled.
The gunmen have not been found. The gunfire came from an AK-47 and an AR-15 assault rifle. Police also believe the intended target wasn’t at the scene.
“The motive at this point is still unknown. We’re still investigating,” said Miami police spokeswoman Frederica Burden.
The somber but chaotic scene outside the two-story apartment complex where the shooting occurred was made even more grim as Richardson’s body remained on the ground covered by a tarp and partially obscured from friends and family members by a barricade.
The medical examiner didn’t retrieve the body until well after 9 a.m. More than five dozen shell casings from the gunfire littered the sidewalk, parking lot, and street.
Richardson’ mother cried out as her son’s body was removed.
“He said he was coming back. I want my baby. He don’t mean no harm to nobody,” Hermonya Richardson shouted.
Police were having a tough time gathering information as many in the neighborhood, fearing retribution, refused to help. Police didn’t know why so many people were outside so late in the evening.
Bennae Robinson, a family friend of Richardson’s, spoke briefly.
“If you know anything, come forward and say something, because it could be your child,” she said.
Photo: Miami Herald/MCT/Walter Michot
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